Inside the Times

Published: August 3, 2009

International

RIOTS SHOW PRECARIOUS LIFE FOR CHRISTIANS IN PAKISTAN

In Gojra, in central Pakistan, a mob killed seven members of a Christian family, the culmination of several days of rioting sparked by a claim that Christians had defiled a Koran. After breaking into the family's home, the mob shot the grandfather,
then burned the house with six family members inside. PAGE A4

ISRAEL EVICTS PALESTINIANS

Security forces evicted two Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem, advancing a plan to settle more Jews in the mostly Arab area. The move prompted sharp international criticism. PAGE A4

CHINA ARRESTS 319 PEOPLE

The latest arrests -- in connection to last month's unrest in the far western region of Xinjiang -- were mostly of Uighurs, a mainly Sunni Muslim minority that China has blamed for the violence, which claimed 197 lives, mostly Han Chinese. PAGE A6

IRAN MOVES ON OPPOSITION

Iranian authorities, a day after beginning a mass trial of more than 100 reformists, intensified efforts to intimidate the opposition movement before President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inauguration. PAGE A8

SPAT OVER IRAQI BANK HEIST

Two top Iraqi officials engaged in a bitter back and forth about the arrests, a day earlier, of three members of Iraq's presidential guard, who are suspects in a brazen bank robbery in Baghdad. PAGE A10

U.S. PILOT'S REMAINS FOUND

Marines in Iraq found the remains of Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, an American fighter pilot shot down in the opening hours of the first Gulf War in 1991. PAGE A10

9 SOLDIERS KILLED

In the first two days of August, insurgents killed nine American and NATO soldiers, underscoring an increase in the sophistication and number of roadside bomb attacks, which were responsible for eight of the nine deaths. PAGE A11

National

ONCE A PLACE OF HOPE, NOW A SOURCE OF TENSION

The Silver Lining Ranch, in Aspen, Colo., which has given thousands of children with cancer a chance to experience the outdoors, is at the center of a stew of recrimination, entrenchment and talk of lawsuits. Aspen Journal. PAGE A12

GAY PRIESTS NOMINATED

Only weeks after the Episcopal Church ended a freeze on promoting gay men and lesbians into the church hierarchy, the Diocese of Los Angeles nominated two gay priests as assistant bishops. PAGE A13

New York

CITY FACES HUGE BACKLOG IN CONCRETE STRENGTH TESTS

A year after a concrete testing company was indicted on suspicions it failed to perform required tests and falsified results, New York City has retested the concrete in only a small fraction of the buildings the company inspected. PAGE A15

RESTING PLACES IN TURMOIL

Jewish burial societies, which sell gravesites, have gradually lost members and many no longer have people even to keep the books. The result: gravesites that people bought and expected to be buried in have been caught in a legal knot. PAGE A15

COUNTING CROWDS

Using no tools or devices, the city parks supervisor estimated that 120,000 people were on Coney Island's beach on Saturday. Parks officials know how unscientific their methods are, and they are trying to find a better way. PAGE A16

LOOKING FOR CLUES IN CRASH

Eight days have passed since a woman steered a vehicle full of children down the wrong side of the Taconic State Parkway, leading to eight deaths. Now, investigators are trying to determine why and how it happened. PAGE A16

Op-ed

PAUL KRUGMAN PAGE A19

ROSS DOUTHAT PAGE A19

Sports

FOR SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS, CULTURE AND STANDINGS SHIFT

San Francisco, which has not had a winning record since 2004 and has not reached the postseason since 2003, sits in an unlikely position: tied with Colorado at the head of the wild-card chase. PAGE D1

PHELPS EXITS ROME SATISFIED

Michael Phelps swam to his fifth gold medal at the world championships in the 4x100-meter medley relay, and Ryan Lochte was first in the 400 individual medley. PAGE D1

RED SOX AND STEROIDS

Two security staff members of the Boston Red Sox were fired last year after an investigation by Major League Baseball found that they were involved in steroid use, according to people in baseball with knowledge of the matter. PAGE D2

FILLY SEIZES THE CROWN

Crown the filly Rachel Alexandra right now. After first toying with and then torching six accomplished colts at the Haskell Invitational in Oceanport, N.J., Rachel Alexandra has ascended to the throne of horse racing. PAGE D3

Obituaries

SIDNEY ZION, 75

A journalist and author, he turned his daughter's death at New York Hospital in 1984 into a crusade that led to national reforms in the training, workload and supervision of young doctors. PAGE A20